I wish I had tried this years ago. But, sitting on the porch carving was not as much fun back then. I have made my front porch [pic 5]on my shop into my carving studio and spend way too much time sitting on it lately. These little wizzard’s and santa’s are now filling up a new shelf in my shop display room at an alarming rate. Oh yea, I even made a carving knife. More of these to come along.
I have been all tied up with my carving and had not even worked on a piece of equipment in so long. Then fellow L/J, johnstoneb posted a neat little backhoe and I just had to make one. A bit of a modification from his design but I feel it will be a tough little guy that will do a good life’s work in any sandbox. I scaled it to my “play with” dump truck so they will all fit together somewhat. Thanks for the inspiration to make this.
I have had a few emails from others that I might switch over to carving, no way, just a new past time and challenge, I will still make trucks, tractors and wagons. One idea I have on the radar might be a Funeral Wagon that is hand carved. Best of both trades?
I have gotten some questioning mail about my new quest to teach myself to carve. Most of it it is a question that I will be giving up building the trucks, tractors and such, NO WORRY FOLKS, I will still use power tools and build trucks, tractors, trains and such again soon.
As many of my followers know I work overseas and this new quest of carving seems just the ticket for overcoming the lack of resources and materials when I travel. I also find it quite a relaxing pastime. My brother was a carver and when he passed he left me his collection of quality tools and I finally picked them up. I am experimenting with several types of carving right now, looking for that one thing that catches my interest the most. I am adding to my tool chest with the best tools I can, as I am a firm believer that good tools make a better result.
I have made a lot of chips since then, added to my tools, read everything I could get my hands on. I watched videos, and more videos on you tube. Best of all I only cut myself once. Carving is something I have always wanted to try and I am glad I did because I find it something new and creative to challenge me. Lots of little ornaments have been made for the practice I desperately need and most were given away, the latest ornament is in Picture #4, my first ever carving is picture #5 Comments?
This little guy needs some suspenders, or free up one of his hands to jerk his britches back up. As I am finding out not all carvings turn out as you start them and in this case it has been a good teacher. The end results were, well revealing. I am having a lot of fun with this new woodworking past time.
BTW,,,, I wear Perry Suspenders every day, so this isn’t a selfy. Doug
I thought I had better carve a guy without his butt crack showing. Here is his buddy coming straight from the still with a new jug of Mountain Dew. He has on a set of suspenders to hold up his britches under his big belly. Before anyone asks, NO it’s not a personal copy, I do wear a chain wallet and Perry suspenders. He finally cough up with his friend to share his DEW.
It’s been a long dry spell for my posting, so I thought I would start off with a BANG. I have my traveling work shop set up in Moscow now and work is getting underway. Copper foil wrap the wheels, elevation is controlled by the threaded hand crank. I had turned the barrel at home but I do have a lathe here. I’ve got a couple things on the bench and a few carvings getting ready for Christmas.
I have carved dozens of ornaments for my Moscow Christmas tree but I will take this one out to show off individually.
I named it “IRON HORSE BIKER” as a tribute to my old buddy Billy Stevens, AKA Iron Horse Billy.
The small yellow sticker on his helmet actually says IRON HORSE. The red white and blue theme is a tribute to the support Billy has done for the men and women in uniform over his lifetime.
Others may have the Iron Horse Saloon name today, but there is only one
Iron Horse Billy.
Living over here in Russia I had to leave my Russian Blue cat ’ Moke” back in Alabama. He/they are actually grey but ….. not blue.
I told Moke he could come but knew he would not like the confinement of apartment living, he likes the freedom of our farm to roam and hunt. So I carved this “MAN WITH A CAT”Even though he has a full beard, he is not my likeness, I don’t smoke, and my hair isn’t that long. The jug in his pocket is kept handy, tobacco burns on his coat might be from too much of that jug.
Lemon is for size reference.
I was carving a small Santa today when LSU was putting some hurt on Alabama. By the last minutes I was putting the sunglasses on him to hide the shame he was showing. But then…....Well you know the “rest of the story” I had to RE-DO the Santa hat into being a proud Alabama BAMA SANTA.And another ornament for my Christmas tree.
I am working in Moscow Russia right now. I have brought my overseas wood shop along as I always do. This year I seem to be doing more carving than trucks right now. {no worry, I have a custom track crane on the bench….}
My tree is made from copper wire. The base of the tree is a piece of #2 and branches are #10.12, and 18 gauge. Remember I am an electrician. All soldered and attached to a plywood base. All the wood pieces are carved right here since June. Russian has some great Lepa [Basswood] There are a few full carved figures, a couple wine stoppers and plenty of ornaments. I might have given at least a dozen others away already.
Think I should add more branches?
This is one of over 50 ornaments I have carved or turned for my Moscow, RU Christmas tree. I was watching Frosty on TV and thought he would make a good addition. Turned and carved. My tree is made out of copper wire scraps, soldered together. As an old electrician I did what needed to have a tree.
I have never been sure if this guy was going to, or coming from, the outhouse. With his serious look, and dropping britches, I say going to. He will have many amenities in there. A copy of Sears Roebuck’s last year catalog, Extra paper, and a jug of ”mountain medicine ”tucked in the corner. His presence has caused the resident “S**t house rat” to sneak out along the fence line. The wood chopping block is ready for use if the ax can be pulled from the stump. But being in his BUNNY slippers tells me he isn’t there to chop any wood just now. Carved from Basswood, and some scrap wood around the shop created the diorama. Thanks for looking, Doug
This custom wagon build has been on my bucket list for a long time. I like to build wagons and there are a lot of choices of them, so why this? Hay I don’t know. But, research for it’s build was interesting. There were so many, very intricate units, I ended up with a pile of printed material. Like every wagon I build there is a different steering system and braking system used on each one. This one is a light duty spring system that should have been be a soft ride. Built here in my traveling wood shop while working in Moscow, Russia. Oh, I carved the drapery’s. Doug
We have all seen the carved Duck heads on old golf clubs. Well, why not caricature heads on them too? The 1st guy has stuck out his tongue about his last score card, the 2nd seems to be seriously contemplating the game, The 3rd old geezer , well what can I say, he’s played the game too long to care about his scores.
As many know I am working in Russia right now and golf isn’t popular enough to find even new stuff. So my friend Brian scrounged up to send me. These are the first of many I will be carving from Russian Lepa wood. Paints are Acrylic.
I have been here nearly 8 months and still hadn’t built myself a work truck. I started back many years ago with Perkins Electric. Then when I started overseas work, I just kept the same simple design “C” truck for every post and country I have worked. Modifying each one and adding signage as to where I was. Pictures 1-4 are of the latest here in Moscow, Russia Picture #5 is of the other 4. Some were previously posted. This one has red Diplomatic tags on it. Never thought of that before. Now I can start work….......
A few years back I made one of these from a modified copy of T&J plans. This one is from memory of that build since I am working in Russia right now. It is not as detailed as I would like, but I have a limited tool inventory here. A few novel things here. The grill is is a arc suppressor from a 225 amp Sq D breaker. A few “store bought” accessories were also necessary. Some wood came from home, some from here, not a lot of hardwoods here, but they have the best carving wood ” lepa” [basswood] I have ever carved. The seat is carved from it.
This is a combination of my carving and building skills, neither great, but I have fun. The motorcycle is a first for me and I learned a lot, with more to learn. The “egg” head biker just seemed to fit for me. His red beard should set him off riding around Daytona Beach. The seat is the end cut off my leather belt and shows the stitching. The seat springs and from a pen. Not much bike riding here in Moscow yet. Doug
The banner says ”THEY SAID THIS MIGHT HAPPEN IF I PLAYED TOO MUCH GOLF” This Golf HEAD, HEAD is for a friend that plays golf a lot. I doubt he uses these old style “woods” anymore. These caricature carvings on old golf clubs is kind of cool. I have a friend back in the states keep me supplied. Not much golf here in Moscow.
A little wood, some feathers, string and a few beads,but we made it all together. This was a project for a sleepover I planned out. The wooden ring is 3/8 cabinet ply with holes drilled. Nothing is straight, the holes are off some, but that’s what makes it so special. They hung them on my deer mount for DEER RINGS. The beads are from Ma Ma’s crafts, the feathers are from my Fly Tieing box, and the whole project is full of love.
